...Dystopias: Definition and Characteristics Utopia: A place, state, or condition that is ideally perfect in respect of politics, laws, customs, and conditions. Dystopia: A futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control. Dystopias, through an exaggerated worst-case scenario, make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or political system. Characteristics of a Dystopian Society • • • • • • • • • Propaganda is used to control the citizens of society. Information, independent thought, and freedom are restricted. A figurehead or concept is worshipped by the citizens of the society. Citizens are perceived to be under constant surveillance. Citizens have a fear of the outside world. Citizens live in a dehumanized state. The natural world is banished and distrusted. Citizens conform to uniform expectations. Individuality and dissent are bad. The society is an illusion of a perfect utopian world. Types of Dystopian Controls Most dystopian works present a world in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through one or more of the following types of controls: • Corporate control: One or more large corporations control society through products, advertising, and/or the media. Examples include Minority Report and Running Man. Bureaucratic control: Society is controlled by a mindless...
Words: 327 - Pages: 2
...Everyone dreams with the ridiculous idea of having a perfect world without problems, without suffer, without greed, and even with immortality, but what if we found what we were looking for, would it still be perfect. Many talented writers attempted to illustrate the opposite idea that people had about a perfect world because it would create sense into a broken society that just needed a little healing. Before it could be too late, Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World with dense dystopian characteristics that certainly painted some sort of dark image in the minds of readers about the type of world that they would face in a distant future. Dystopian novels essentially illustrate a futuristic world that seems perfect in the eyes of others, but...
Words: 1037 - Pages: 5
...Introduction It was the year of 1516 when Utopia was brought into being by Sir Thomas Moore, and from then on to the 19th century, utopian fiction has experienced a development and a dramatic turn into just the opposite tone, dystopian. These two distinctive streams in British literature, with a same distant source, contain totally different settings—if the utopian novels have demonstrated the perfectly idealized future society for mankind, then the dystopian ones describe the least ideal society, and it is usually considered that a dystopia is the vision of a society in which condition of life are miserable and characterized by poverty, oppression, war, violence, disease, pollution, nuclear fallout and/or the abridgement of human rights, resulting in widespread unhappiness, suffering, and other kinds of pain.1 As material civilization develops into a certain level and can be considered as more than sufficient, then the world is superior to spiritual civilization; however human spirit is the reflection and is controlled by the substances. So, in a highly-developed society with rich material life and high technology, human spirit indeed has no real freedom. Of course, flooding modernized technologies provide human beings a better living condition, but they are covering up an empty and weak spiritual world. Human beings are made to be squeezed to become the flat and instrumental existence surround by machines which makes them feel it is a perfect world. It is obvious...
Words: 1029 - Pages: 5
...an adult. But what happens if this question is no long applicable or even necessary? Dystopian novels remove this illusion of choice. In each of the novels I will address, all teenagers attend or participate in a ceremony whereby they transition from young adult to adult. The first series I will address is Scott Westerfield’s Uglies series, where youth undergo plastic surgery as their rite of passage. Maturation and growing up require endure body modifications to create same-ness and the perfectly pretty white race. Second, I will analyze Ally Condie’s Matched series, where social order to determined by sorters who decide vocation and spouses. All teenagers attend a ceremony where a person’s perfect match is determined by a computer program. Lastly, I will use Veronica Roth’s Divergent series to explore how the world is constructed by personality type. Youth choose to participate in factions that are determined by a psychological examination that detects a youth’s instinctual predilections when facing their fears. As readers begin to figure out the rules to this new society, they are challenged to make comparisons to their own world. We are forced to wonder whether or not, as educators, we reinforce stereotypical constructs of adolescence despite our interaction with seemingly critical texts. In the last few years, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of dystopian novels marketed to young adults. The story always begins in media res, where some kind...
Words: 3808 - Pages: 16
...Journal #2 The dystopian future: why will the future get worse? I first encountered the word "dystopian" when I was in grade seven. Dystopian themes are popular for its negative illusion of the future. I have my own frightening dystopian world where all laughter turns into “LOL” and people in my life become their tiny profile pictures. Utopian imaginations are idealized world while dystopian imaginations concern for an unpleasant future. The soaring technological production and scientific advancement still can not fulfill society’s increasing expectations. Technology is an express train and we are the passengers on this train. The speed of this train is delightful, but we are losing control of the speed and direction. When we are enjoying the benefits of this train, we do not realize that he train is unstoppable now. The endless possibilities of technology make us almighty. People start to believe in the potential that they can alternate the rule of nature. The overconfidence and arrogance of human is going to lead our world to a failure. When superior scientific intelligence generate solutions...
Words: 478 - Pages: 2
...A dystopian society means that it is a total opposite to a perfect utopian society. And yes every person version of their own utopia but there are some things that most people will agree on. The literature version of dystopian future has been written about a lot. This is especially true of books like The Hunger Games, and Divergent have given new to life and popularity to the genre. However, the messages are a little misread by a society obsessed with stories. These stories in actuality remind us of what we could become in the future. There are many classical works of literature that shows us the future of our society. There is Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury where knowledge and reading are sin. There is Anthem by Ayn Rand which handles the topic of collectivism, and only doing what the party tell you to do. There is Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, where the main topic of discussion is how media distracts and brainwashes you, while also...
Words: 1825 - Pages: 8
...real-life utopias (Dunn 1) and even before that, people wrote about the concept of utopian societies as if they were real. After reading multiple dystopian articles, short stories and even a book, it is easy to see that the concept of a utopia is one that ultimately cannot exist and that utopias ultimately perish and turn into a dystopia. All of the stories mentioned in this essay share one theme: the government plays a role in what they do, what occupation they have, who they interact with, and...
Words: 741 - Pages: 3
...Picture a society forced to live in a dystopic world with flying machines, hoverboards, interface rings and eye reading machines. These are some parts of dystopia, just as shown in other novels such as The Maze Runner, Hunger Games, and The Giver. In the book, Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, the reader meets Tally Youngblood. Tally Youngblood is 16 and she lives in Uglyville. Tally has a best friend Peris that is 3 months older than her who was turned pretty first. It states on page 3 “Tally takes on the roles of vandal, outcast, and informer.” Utopia is not attainable because there cannot be a perfect world, as dystopia is defined as an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or miserable. Therefore, Uglies is an example of...
Words: 884 - Pages: 4
...In 1949, George Orwell wrote and published his final novel 1984 about a utopian society, Oceania, on the surface and a dystopian society when looked into further into through Winston Smith’s perspective. This character goes against the totalitarianism government ran by the Inner Party and Big Brother. Orwell gave a dramatic utopian and dystopian fiction book that is also political and social science fiction because Orwell often wrote about going against totalitarianism. Utopia is defined as ‘an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect.’ which is exactly how George Orwell portrayed Oceania to be for a majority of the citizens or Party members. Oceania’s government or Big Brother can do no wrong, especially in the eyes...
Words: 780 - Pages: 4
...The stories “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin are stories that ponder society in being a perfect environment. The View of an ideal society is different, but flawed in. In each story there is a veto on seeing beyond or beneath the sketchy appearance of everyday events. Though these to stories show a difference, they share a similar characteristic of a dystopian society. In Harrison Bergeron, Vonnegut begins the story of by giving a misunderstanding of the real meaning of equality, by having the idea that nobody can be better than anybody else. The narrator tells us “they were equal in every which way. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker...
Words: 469 - Pages: 2
...from the Greek: οὐ ("not") and topos ("place") and means "no-place", and...in standard usage, the word's meaning has narrowed and now usually describes a non-existent society that is intended to be viewed as considerably better than contemporary society." Dystopia, on the other hand, is the direct opposite of utopia, and is used to describe a utopian society after things have gone diminished. The future based short story, “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut is based on a 'utopian society' where the world is living up to the idea of America’s fourteenth amendment in which everyone is created equal. The gifted, strong, intelligent, and beautiful are forced to wear handicaps of either earphones, heavy weights, or hideous...
Words: 1300 - Pages: 6
...According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, human nature is defined as “the nature of humans, especially, the fundamental dispositions and traits of humans” (Dictionary). Efforts to identify the exact nature of humankind date back centuries ago, as numerous thinkers and theologians debate the topic. The issue whether human nature is programmed in humans’ brains or if it is a decision based on beliefs, society, and the culture is very arguable. Philosophers throughout history, such as Thomas Hobbes, have offered their viewpoints of human nature, eventually reaching Sigmund Freud and other modern philosophers. However, in A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess writes a story of a dystopian future version of Britain with the story revolving...
Words: 1191 - Pages: 5
...Harrison Bergeron Analysis Harrison Bergeron is a short story written by Kurt Vonnegut. The story is a about the society in America in 2081, a man called George and his wife, Hazel, and the way the society is controlling people, so they can fit into what the government call “average”, and thereby achieve the goal of being ‘equal’. In today’s society everybody strikes to be the best, better looking and smarter than anybody else, and therefore the thought about living in a society where everyone is equal might sound tempting, if you find the race of being the best tiring. A lot of the things that most young people are struggling with right now might disappear. No more jealousy and at best no more war. There is often created a dystopian world, when humans are trying to make it a utopian one. The story about Harrison Bergeron concerns this issue. Everybody is equal, which might sound like a utopian world but in fact is a dystopian society to be living in. “The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the Law. They were equal in every which way. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else” The meaning of the word ‘equal’ has been taking to a whole new level and it is supposed to be making the society a better place, but in fact the thing it is doing, is controlling the citizens and taking away their freedom of thought, intellectual ability and their individual beauty and strength. An...
Words: 993 - Pages: 4
...“Shore” depicts a clash between two distinct objects, in this case, the clash between cognition of an individual and the data spewed by the Seashell. The phrases, “Mildred had not swim that sea, had not gladly gone down in it for the third time” facilitate the creation of the idea of technological dependency, and wide acceptance of these elements throughout the society through Bradbury’s employment of abstract diction. Bradbury’s use of figurative and abstract diction simultaneously illustrates the concept of the Seashells and their impact on Mildred, which demonstrates the lack of individual thought. The depiction of the Seashells as a forceful and manipulative object and its purpose to constantly gush irrelevant, monotonous information at the individual also clarifies its purpose as a restrictive device for the suppression of independent thought. The absorption of the irrelevant information deprives the individuals of their ability to perform cognitive actions and maintain awareness of their...
Words: 524 - Pages: 3
...There are obvious characteristics that each dystopian work shares on some level. To begin with, some manner of propaganda is used to control the inhabitants of the given society. Information, independent thought, and most importantly, an individual’s personal freedom is severely restricted- the population must conform to uniform expectations. Individuality and dissent are wicked concepts. There is usually a figurehead or a comparable concept that is worshipped by the populace. Citizens are perceived, whether they truly are or not, to be under constant surveillance by the authorities. There is also a strong sense of nationalism and citizens have a fear of the outside world and those that are outside their bubble. The society is generally stratified socially, economically, and politically causing a majority of inhabitants to live in a dehumanized state. For almost everyone except the protagonist, the society is a perfect utopian world. The melting away of this illusion is the journey a dystopian novel usually takes the reader. I can see these echoes of similarity between We and the many other great works of dystopian science-fiction such as Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451 and, for this discussion, Orwell‘s novel 1984. Both stories depict a post-apocalyptic world that has come into existence after a nuclear war has realigned the all of the previous geographic, political and social boundaries of the “old world”. Both stories are told by a government bureaucrat of sorts...
Words: 686 - Pages: 3
